New recurring roles: Betina DeJesus, a radiologist who flirts with Pratt; and Dawn, a nurse from New Orleans who worked there during Hurricane Katrina (cue clumsy soapboxing by the writers...).

This week's depressing storylines: A husband/father dies in the ER after a car accident and his wife faints/"nearly dies" when she gets the news; a terminal cancer patient is involved in a motorcycle accident and his wife wants his diagnosis kept from him.

Offensive story of the week: a "sexually forward" fifteen year old constantly takes her clothes off, has an overinterest in sexual matters and has a propensity for sexually "inappropriate words and deeds". [The storyline attributes this behavior to Asperger's Syndrome, but it's really so the perv writer can get his jollies yet again. ]

Minor storyline: Morris has hired a makeup team for a segment he'll be on for the tv news.

The verdict is in, Luka is found not guilty by the jury, but he seems to found himself guilty by default. Kerry is supportive of him, sharing her own experiences with malpractice and encouraging him to not hide away as he was apparently doing at work. No indication as to Abby's response.

Ames turns up in the ER to see Luka after the verdict, no more info than that. Abby says she and Luka are supposed to see some film about the Dubrovnik mafia (sounds like she's probably mocking it) that night, but Luka tells her he needs to work late (maybe to talk to Ames?) and Haleh invites Abby to Ike's with a bunch of the other women including Neela who is apparently quite drunk, Sam, Dawn (new nurse from New Orleans), Kerry and others. They, of course, are discussing which of the ER staff they would sleep with, continuing TPTB's fascination with crudeness. Sam would do Morris, I guess after Steve, Morris doesn't look too bad. The new nurse likes Pratt.

Morris is assigned to do a TV interview after no one else wants to do it and gets hair and makeup people, etc to come to the ER to glam him up, Kerry is not amused.

Josie is the Asperger's patient. She attends a special school and is brought to the ER with an ankle fracture incurred while playing basketball. She is quite verbal, not the typical Asperger's from what I know of it. She does spend a lot of time talking about bus routes, etc. in a sort of Asbergery way (sorry for the adjective). Gates is taking care of her, she mentions his pecs and says he shouldn't hide them under a white coat. She makes other inappropriate comments and, at one point, strips naked and, when he enters the cubicle, she shouts, "Happy Birthday!". When her parents come in, they confirm that she frequently gets naked in public and makes suggestive comments. Gates convinces them she is at risk and gets her started on Depo provera for birth control and teaches her how to use condoms. She initially hopes he is going to have sex with her, he clears that up right away.

A man is brought in after a motorcycle accident, CT indicates he has brain mets. His wife arrives and it seems he had surgery for pancreatic ca a couple years ago and now it has recurred and he doesn't have much time. She doesn't want to tell him because he was so depressed after his initial dx and he is now in such a good frame of mind. They are planning on going to Provence for the holidays and are very excited. Luka wants to tell him and get hospice involved, the wife says she will tell him herself, but doesn't. She convinces Luka that he needs to take this trip with her and that telling him is going to ruin what little time is left. Luka finally agrees and makes her promise that her husband will not drive ever again and that she will make sure to keep him safe. He apparently gives the guy meds for seizures and also maybe steroids for cerebral edema. The guy says his wife is in charge of all his meds and to just give her the info. Luka tells her Provence is beautiful (it sure is).

Neela loses a patient in the OR with Dubenko and Crenshaw is pissed at her because she went to the OR and he was left to do scut in the ER. He apparently reams her out, which probably is why she is drunk at Ike's.

When Neela tells the patient's wife that he has died, she faints in the surgery waiting room where Abby had brought her to wait. When Abby leaves the ER, she tells Frank to page her if her pediatrician calls, no idea what that is about. Since she goes out to Ike's with the girls and Luka is working late, it doesn't seem likely that the baby is sick.

Pratt flirts with the new radiologist and ends up taking her back to his place where they have dinner. Just as he is getting frisky, his brother Chaz shows up with all his stuff. It seems he is moving in with Pratt, who thought he wasn't going to turn up until the next day.

Morris is elected by a group not in authority to do some sort of tv appearance and brings in a pedicurist and makeup artist to help him prepare. Kerry finds out and kicks out his makeup artist and hairstylist. But Morris does the tv spot anyway – about how not to overwhelm the ER with unimportant cases, in this case, a child overdosing on Halloween candy. Kerry handles an asthmatic patient with no job and no health insurance comes in and gets the reporters’ attention by saying these were the cases that stretched the capacity of the ER.

Luka’s story centers around two events: the juror’s decision is out. Kerry convinces him to stop hiding in the ER and go to the courtroom. The verdict is in Luka’s favor and Ames plus his children are quite distressed over the verdict. But at the end of the third act, Mr. Ames shows up at the ER waiting area wanting to talk to Luka. After Luka confronts a departing Mr. Rice (see below), and immediately after Mr. Ames pounds on the glass between the waiting area and triage, Luka he turns to go. And while we don’t know where Luka goes, Mr. Ames has attracted his attention.

Meanwhile, as the episode begins Luka treats a man hit by an SUV while riding his Harley. The MRI show a cancer, thought to be in remission, has metastasized in his brain. Rice’s wife agrees to tell him the bad news, but changes her mind. In the third act, Luka stops them in the triage area as Mr. Ames pounds on the glass. Luka is angry, saying Rice should be told the truth. Mrs. Rice argues that Rice should be allowed time without fearing the worst, and to take his vacations. Luka threatens to tell him the truth, but in the fourth act, does not. He orders Mrs. Rice to not allow Rice to be in situations where someone else might be hurt.

The man who hit Rice is also injured. Abby treats him, Neela comes to consult, and Neela ends up in surgery for the man. Neela’s actions seem to get her in hot water with Crenshaw, and she ends up telling the wife the man died. The wife goes into cardiac arrest, and without a history suggesting an MI, Neela surmises it is “Broken Heart Syndrome.” The woman survives, saying she saw her husband and was able to say goodbye.

Meanwhile, Gates continues his flirting with Neela, and Ray’s jealousy is evident to Neela’s med student, Katey, who confronts Ray in a way that says she knows where his heart really is. She kinda embarrasses Ray on her way out of the ER – suggesting their sexual relationship what not all that satisfying to her.

Gates treats Josie for an injured ankle. She’s a special needs student who is found to be naked in her bed. The girl’s father at first dismisses her actions because of her illness, Asperger’s Syndrome, and is not worried that his 15-year old is not aware of birth control methods. But Gates convinces the father his daughter she needs to be protected as her illness prevents her from being able to say no.

Dawn is the new nurse from New Orleans and she gets to meet the ER staff and the various patients. She ignores flirting advances from Pratt.

Kerry works on a man who has sand in his eye, and although there is nothing seriously wrong, the man insists on more tests. Finally, Sam is the one to kick him out. Kerry admits as a ER physician, she’s glad Sam did that. Meanwhile, electrical problems continue as various treatment areas lose electricity and it will take at least a week for parts to come in – Kerry handles the situation because Luka is at the court.

Meanwhile, Pratt meets a radiologist who brings Rice’s x-rays to the ER. He flirts, she flirts back. At the end of the episode, after a meal at Pratt’s apartment that he’s cooked, just about as things get steamy, Chaz, Pratt’s half-brother shows up. Turns out he’s moving in with Pratt, even though Pratt "insists" it would be on Friday, not tonight, Thursday.
And amidst the other action, Abby is waiting on a call from her pediatrician and asks Frank to page her if the call comes in. And early on, we learn that Luka is “worn out” because the baby is not sleeping. Towards the end, at the beginning of Act 4, Luka begs off going home because of his workload, and Haleh apparently convinces Abby to go out with the girls.
Somewhere in Act 4, Haleh, Chuny, Hope, Dawn, Katey, Weaver, Sam, Abby and Neela visit Ike’s because earlier Kerry suggested a girl’s night out. Neela is drunk. Sam says she would shag Pratt and shoot Morris. The party seems to continue thereafter.

It is Dubenko who reads Neela the riot act for not respecting Crenshaw. He tells her that, as chief resident, Crenshaw OWNS her, and she is not to go around him by using Dubenko, which is apparently how she ends up in the OR while Crenshaw is doing her scut. Shades of Carter getting reamed out by Anspaugh and Hicks for pulling a fast one as a surgical intern. BTW, Neela calls Dubenko 'Lucien' in conversation. Something about it makes me wonder if she isn't crushing on him just a little, but that is pure spec.

Abby takes care of a woman who is stabbed by her boyfriend for using the last of the toilet paper.

Gates does a really good job of explaining his concerns to Kerry about the young girl's sexual forwardness as well as in talking to her parents. It does become a bit of a PSA about how young women like her are at risk for molestation, but he does handle it professionally and maturely and her parents listen to what he has to say and let him give her contraception as well as info on safer sex.

Kerry fans, it looks like she gets a bunch of time in this one, she is talking to an electrician about some sort of problem in the ER that may stem from the shootout 'a few months back' and is not happy to hear that the needed parts won't arrive for a week. She also notes they are seeing a lot of kids who are sick from eating too much Halloween candy, so it appears we have caught up with the calendar.

Sam, continuing the ER's recent tradition of saluting rude and unprofessional behaviour by its staff, takes a patient's clothes and dumps them on the sidewalk in the ambulance bay when he is being a PITA. The guy is a jerk, no doubt about that, but I just don't see why the show insists on showing us medical professionals calling their patients 'bitches' or dumping urine on them or other assorted juvenile acts and pretending this is humorous or applause-worthy. Kerry tells Sam that she should be mad at her, but she's glad the guy is gone and offers to buy her a drink after work. This becomes the girls' night out.

It looks like Ray and Gates are competing for Neela's attentions. Ray has gone out with Katey, Neela's med student and not called her again, which Katey thinks is due to his interest in Neela. BTW, Ray doesn't move his hips enough for those who were wondering. Gates calls Neela in to see a neat case even though it isn't a patient for her, looks like he just wants to get her attention.

09/07 - Episode 13.0? - Heart of the Matter: The episode will introduce a possible new recurring character named Betina Dejesus. This woman in her 30s is a radiologist at the hospital will hook up with Dr. Pratt. The latter's brother drops by unnanounced at Pratt's apartment, thinking he is moving in. Dawn, a new tough nurse who was raised in New Orleans and worked during the Katrina debacle, joins the ER team. A woman gets mad when her husband forgets to pick her up at the train station. Turns out her husband was at the ER getting treatment. When she arrives at the ER and learns of his death, she becomes a patient herself. A young woman suffering from Asperger's Syndrome is admitted due to a sprained ankle. Her ankle isn't what makes her father get angry, her attitude due to the syndrome is... Dr. Morris is set to appear in a television news piece. Kovac and Weaver also appear.

20.10.2006
ER
HEART OF THE MATTER
11-02-2006 10:01PM
TROUBLES OF THE HEART-- FOREST WHITAKER ("The Sheild") GUEST STARS-- Dr. Kovac (Goran Visnjic) anxiously awaits the jury decision between himself and Curtis Ames (guest star Forest Whitaker) but fears for the worst. Neela (Parminder Nagra) is tired of doing the dirty work and tries to prove to Dr. Crenshaw (guest star J.P. Manoux) that she is worthy of scrubbing in for surgery. Morris (Scott Grimes) prepares for his big television debut but ends up getting upstaged by Weaver (Laura Innes). Meanwhile, Ray (Shane West) starts to get jealous when he sees Neela and Gates (John Stamos) flirting. Maura Tierney, Mekhi Phifer, and Linda Cardellini also star.